NSOI: Celine Byrne sings Four Last Songs

National Symphony Orchestra Ireland
Lio Kuokman, conductor
Celine Byrne, soprano 

Jennifer Higdon blue cathedral (Irish Premiere)
Richard Strauss Four Last Songs
Richard Strauss Der Rosenkavalier Suite 
Ravel La valse

Emotions are high in a compelling concert with National Symphony Orchestra Ireland featuring Celine Byrne in Richard Strauss’s gorgeous and poignant Four Last Songs, and the Irish premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s blue cathedral, a moving memorial tribute to her brother, with the ‘startling conducting talent’ (Philadelphia Enquirer) of Lio Kuokman making a welcome return. 

The rich, lustrous voice and ‘fine lyrical quality’ (Opera) of Celine Byrne seems tailor-made for Strauss’s radiant masterpiece, an intimate reflection on life and gentle anticipation of death. 

Jennifer Higdon’s reflection on loss and hope is lit up by luminous, shimmering music with prominent solos for flute and clarinet and moves from hushed introspection to ecstatic radiance.

Blending lush Viennese waltzes, sparkling orchestral colour, and infectious lyricism, Strauss’s tune-filled Der Rosenkavalier Suite brims over with autumnal romance, bittersweet nostalgia, and comic exuberance in glittering orchestral form. 

A tribute to the Viennese waltz turned sour by the experience of the First World War, Ravel’s La valse transforms the waltz into a dizzy, unhinged mirror image of itself to create a wild, haunting vision of beauty unravelling. 

Presented by NCH
Supported by Travel Department